


Do You Still Dream of Escape?

by candybrainedquack



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, The Evil Within 2 Spoilers, Theory Heavy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21533359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candybrainedquack/pseuds/candybrainedquack
Summary: My theories about Ruvik and Tatiana in fanfic form.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Do You Still Dream of Escape?

A nurse… from Beacon Mental Hospital? A rather inexpedient selection of test subject, given how the disreputable hospital is frequently understaffed. Surely, they have not exhausted their many shrewd methods of acquiring test subjects. Perhaps this was an unshakeably curious type. Wandered off into places no unauthorized individual ought to be in.

They had dumped a feisty journalist of similar vein onto him not too long ago. Integration of such characters were unnecessary as they contribute insignificantly to their research, yet they were sent in, merely for disposal. The prideful Jimenez had been careless but preferring to keep his hands clean, directed the gruelling task to his former apprentice, once again taking credit for _his_ work. The thought of Jimenez alone angered Ruvik.

No matter. The welcoming squad will attend to her shortly.

\-------------------

To his surprise, Ruvik found the nurse alive, sauntering about his domain, as if on a leisurely stroll. Her attire had been splattered with blood but otherwise, she appeared unscathed and with stable vital signs. Did she get lucky? He figured survival would be possible for someone of her physique if she had say, nine lives. While he did not see the need to monitor her earlier, she certainly has his attention now.

He tapped into her neuronal pathways, closely examining her limbic system particularly the amygdala, working on towards the prefrontal cortex and then the entirety of her. He found nothing. An image of a crystal-clear lake comes to mind, water so still that you would find yourself staring right back at you. When faced with Ruvik himself, she was silent and unresponsive. The STEM integration process is occasionally susceptible to hiccups resulting in lobotomy, but all such cases manifested as fascinating unhuman creatures. 

“You seem to have no horrors of your own. Why don’t you have some of mine?” said Ruvik invitingly. She would make him a fine specimen.

In the meantime, he had others to deal with. There has been a large influx of unbecoming vermin lately. Mobius is getting desperate. 

\-------------------

“Ruben Victoriano,” the nurse spoke, voice as languid as her demeanour, “But ‘Ruvik’ is what they call you now.”

A phantom ache flared up throughout his burnt flesh. Her sudden appearance and ability to speak, which had interrupted his otherwise flawless piano performance, would have instigated him had it not sown him into a field swarmed with buzzing resentful thoughts. His very own personhood stitched to the name of his long dead family. Their intention was to strip him down to a mere tool; a docile blank slate for their overzealous ambitions. But he would reclaim it all, what rightfully belongs to him.

Ruvik regained his composure. He had been indulging in a particularly beautiful classical piece, one of many amongst his vast repertoire. Even monsters had their pastimes. While feeling annoyed with the nurse’s puzzling endurance despite his last undertaking (he was certain she had reached an early demise after losing her trail), he could sense no threat from her and so, he resumed his melodic playing.

“I had the pleasure of meeting a lovely young lady dressed in a red gown.”

Impossible. His hands came to an abrupt stop. He had tried everything in his capacity to restore her, but he should have known better. This hellscape of nightmares warps everything; faultless and tragic memories alike into barbaric monsters. His longing for her, however deep, was futile.

He stood up and paced across the lounge they were in. One of the unfortunate test subjects of late had contributed to this decadent venue.

“Did she say anything?” asked Ruvik forlornly.

“I’m afraid I could not understand her although I tried to. She spoke only in screams,” said the nurse somewhat regrettably. “Was it agony? Or hatred? Maybe it was both.”

Of course. He knew she was still alive after the barn fire, confined in a hospital. But he could not reach her in time. On top of that, he had killed their despicable father in a fit of rage, and along with him their mother too. Their mother who had loved them both dearly. It is indisputable; Laura hates him. This must be the cruel punishment he deserves. He will rot in this man-made hell with her. 

The STEM environment shifted with strife beneath Ruvik, interrupting his cerebration. He headed off, leaving the nurse behind. He would have to save her for later.

Jimenez and the boy had entered STEM some time ago. The wireless prototype was a success, opening a passage of time whereby he would appear to have materialized as an apparition, satiating his bloodlust against the hospital populace followed by half a dozen dispatched police. In actual fact, he had caused harm from within themselves; within the confines of STEM, leaving inflicted wounds on their physical bodies as though a ghost had knifed them down in the real world. Ordinarily, the wireless transmission would cause the affected to perceive an ear-piercing screech before being pulled into STEM fairly smoothly, but Ruvik had not allowed that to happen.

While on his killing spree, he had a brief encounter with Jimenez. The imbecile expressed shocked in seeing him although he ought to have prior knowledge of Ruvik’s presence within STEM. After all, he was on a half-baked mission to rid the system of him by utilizing the boy. Ruvik was appalled that the fool’s integration into STEM had somehow rendered him even stupider than he already was. 

Shortly after, Mobius intervened, plugging in four individuals; a police officer and a detective duo, presumably abducted prior to the event, as Ruvik could sense residual traces of tranquilizers and sedatives lingering in their system, and last but not least, one of their very own agents. They had programmed the entry-point environment to look like the hospital, emulating the bloodied scene in real life. An elaborate set-up. But for what cause?

He had closed in on one of the detectives, noting certain past elements of interest; a child lost to fire and a missing wife, carefully repressed under a chronic drinking dependency thus, limited to the surface. Nonetheless he had him plucked from the set-up, plunging him down further into the chasmic depths of horror.

Now it appears they have reunited, taking off in a van and haphazardly manoeuvring through a dilapidated cockamamie Krimson City. This would be an opportune time to seek an alternative method to the one he had in mind, on exacting his revenge on Mobius. Whatever they are up to, he would go against them. He _refuses_ to be their tool. He would craftily lay out his many wicked mind games. Anything to keep his mind off the psychological heaviness the nurse had brought upon him.

\-------------------

She had been _helping_ them. She had even found use for the innocuous green gel left behind by the fallen Haunted. A nurse so robotically dedicated to her profession that she continued to assume her role even under hellish circumstances, all in a safe haven of her own, tucked away hidden in a corner of STEM beyond his reign. While she was supposedly devoid of consciousness, her reflective faculty meant she had built her own mindscape from the strength of others, much like a mirror.

Ruvik focused, reaching deep into the frenzied hivemind of collective consciousness. He zeroed in on an anomaly; a stream of memories channelling from his very own mind to an unknown locus. A smile crept across his face. He would traverse through them to pay her a long overdue visit. 

\-------------------

The smell of disinfectants filled the air, faintly masking the underlying putrid reek. Ruvik was greeted by a parade of cockroaches scurrying across the walls of the dimly lit hallway that lead to a few bedded rooms. An atmospheric homey infirmary for the insane. There she was, pondering by a notice board.

“You had showed him what was _mine_ ,” said Ruvik tartly.

“Visiting hours have passed,” she turned around to face him, “But you are more than welcome to receive some treatment yourself. You look ghastly.”

In a blink, he emerged an inch close to her, forcefully jerking her chin up with a thumb, “Don’t fuck with me, _nurse._ ” One of her eyes was fixated rigidly on him, the other appearing slightly offset. Given their close proximity, they could have been mistaken for passionate lovers had it not for what proceeded next.

“Besides, isn’t it nice to have someone understand you better. You should be thankful,” she added, bold and unflinching, like a sunflower, albeit a dreary one.

Instinctively, his hand made its way to her throat, squeezing tightly. He watched in satisfaction as she squirmed and gasped for air. Finally, some semblance of human weakness.

“You are but a broken mirror. A wound doll trapped in perpetual motion. Let’s put an end to this mindless existence of yours,” he tightened his grip. He would destroy everyone and everything and put an end to this misery. 

“What are you doing? Stop!” cried a voice in the distant.

Ruvik’s field of view shattered followed by a bright light that eased into a daze. He was in a room bathed in sunlight, but the details of his surroundings did not matter to him whose eyes were locked on where she stood. Long ebony hair, skin glowing, radiant and alive. Arms that once embraced with warmth and affection. An uncorrupted recollection. Ruvik stood as still as a tombstone, feeling as though if he were to so much as blink or breathe, the scene before him would crumble apart.

Laura was reprimanding a boy; his younger counterpart.

The boy was holding on to a miniature diorama adorned with taxidermied rodent bones, insects and flowers made to look like a dollhouse. He looked as though he was about to take it apart.

“It’s ugly and broken. I shouldn’t have given it to you,” he replied. He had made the miniature model as a gift for her on a very special occasion, her birthday. The siblings shared the same affinity for the macabre although hers leaned solely towards the aesthetics. But after presenting it to her, he had second thoughts; the diorama looked distasteful and amateurish. It would stand out as an eyesore amongst the rest of her collection.

“Put it down,” Laura commanded. 

“But why keep it? I’ll make you a new one,” reasoned the boy. The craft had certainly looked a lot better in his imagination.

Laura sighed. “It’s because _you_ made it for me and I love you, silly.”

Loving him didn’t quite mean that his work was any good, but his sister’s reassuring declaration was enough to convince him. The boy relinquished his grip on the craft.

“Always do, always will,” she muttered under her breath as she turned to face Ruvik, “It’s time you wake up, Ruben.”

Her sad but sincere smile faded into a gentle breeze, leaving him in darkness once more.

Laura would not have wanted this fate for him.

His initial plan involved implanted chips and a certain signal that he had computed. But that would ultimately lead to his own destruction. All for a petty vengeance? Why should he carry that burden? Heck, he could pass it on to a worthier hero. He had a hunch; betrayal is imminent. Death will naturally come upon Mobius. 

_There is a way out_. _He deserves better_. His indignation broke him out of his reverie and back into the nurse’s office.

The nurse was nowhere in sight, but he caught a glimpse of a dark figure with two triangles pointed upwards, lounging on the reception counter. It opened its eyes when he neared it. It sported a red ribbon around its neck, just like the one worn on the nurse’s ponytail.

He cleared his throat. “I know it’s you.” Still, he couldn’t shake off the strange feeling of communicating to a catform. At this point, he had given up on questioning her caprice. 

“Mrrow,” the stealthy creature responded softly.

Charming, but a cat’s allure has no effect on him, or so he claims.

Throwing one last glance at the red-eyed feline, Ruvik took a few steps backwards only to turn and disappear into the darkness, leaving a spectacle of blooming golden-petalled flowers in his wake. Gratitude may not be in his vocabulary, but he knew when and how to best express it in action regardless. 

That was the last time Tatiana ever laid eyes on him.

\-------------------

“Do you still dream of escape? So near at hand? What is the point of dreaming when your body lies here, never moving?”

\- R

\-------------------

**Author's Note:**

> \- The missing posters collected in the game imply that Sebastian, Joseph and I-forgot-his-name went missing at different times from separate locations. Sebastian went missing looking for his wife and Joseph went missing while out in the city looking for a “friend”. So, I take it that Mobius had abducted them and plugged them into bathtubs as seen at the end of the game.
> 
> \- The events of this fic all happen before Marcelo’s death. He exclaimed “He wants out!” like it was a stunning revelation. 
> 
> \- Disclaimer: I obviously do not support incest and nothing written here is to be taken in romantic context.


End file.
